In the midst of the pouring rain, Emilia Heartstrings gazed up at the huge house that towered before her. "So this is the house of Gorillaz, eh?" She said to herself in her thick English accent. She reached into her bag and pulled out her job application. On it said, "SEENGR WNTD, GO 2 GORILLAZ PLASE." Emilia had a heavenly singing voice, which nicely matched with her strange last name. So she knocked on the rusty door and smoothed the wrinkles out of her clothes, shivering in the early spring rain.

It was a full minute until someone answered. "Who is it?" A timid voice inquired from the other side of the door. I cleared my throat and answered, "I'm Emilia Heartstrings. I came here for the job request." The door swung open, and a young man with blue hair and black eyes was standing at the doorway. "Well, come on in, then! Come on, its raining!" I gratefully stepped in, glad to be out of the cold. "Everyone, this is the new girl!" The guy shouted, clapping his hands loudly. There was no reply. He turned to me and stuck out his skinny hand. "I'm Stu Pot, but everyone calls me 2-D. I hesitantly shook the hand and looked around. "So, has anyone else tried for this job?" 2-D pulled two sodas out of a crooked refrigerator. "Yeah, but they didn't like us." I frowned. "You seem cool enough," I said. 2-D blushed and looked at the ground, then stuck out a soda can. "Here. Soda." I took the can but kept quiet. I didn't want to embarrass him. "Ey! 2-D!" I looked over to the source of the voice and immediately wished I hadn't. A man with black hair and strange eye was leaning on the wall, a bottle in his hand. He was only in his underwear. "Is this the new gal?" He said, his words slurred. "Umm, I'm Emilia," I said. "And yeah, I am." The man nodded and tried to go upstairs, but tripped and fell, not bothering to get up. "That's Murdoc," 2-D said. "Noodle! Russel! Will you come meet Emilia?" I began to hear stomping, and a little Japanese girl ran to meet me. "Watashi wa Noodle!" 2-D grinned at the girl and said to me, "she said her name's Noodle." I smiled at the girl and waved, then pointed to myself and said, "Emilia." Noodle looked behind her, where a dark colored man stood in the hallway. "I'm Emilia," I said. "Name's Russel," the man said. I nodded and turned to 2-D. "Okay, so, do I get the job, or should you hear me sing first?" 2-D shrugged. "Sure. Just sing something random. Preferably one of our songs." "Okay," I said, and cleared my throat, but then I felt shy. "We could turn around, if you want," Russel suggested. "No, it's alright," I said, then gathered up my courage and sang, "Windmill, windmill, for the land, turned forever, hand in hand. Take it all in on your stride, it's trickling, falling down. Love forever, love is free, let's turn forever, you and me.." I trailed off, embarrassed, but 2-D jumped up and exclaimed, "That was freaking amazing!" I blushed heavily. "R-really?" "Yeah!" He said. "You've got the job! Russel, Noodle, here's our new band member!"

If I didn't have an ounce of dignity, I would have died of happiness right then and there. I managed to smile without screaming and thank them, then began to leave. "Hold on!" 2-D said, grabbing my shoulder. I flinched away and yelped at the pain that shot through my arm. 2-D shied away. "Sorry! Sorry!" He exclaimed, his fingers twitching nervously. "It's okay," I said, rubbing the huge bruise on my arm. "What happened?" 2-D asked. I hesitated. I wasn't sure if I could tell my life story to people I just met, but they were my new band members, so I had to trust them. " My father," I said quietly. "Not the nicest man in the world." "Man, that's messed up," Russel said. I shrugged. "It's just how he is. Anyway," I turned to the door, "I should be getting home." However, Noodle was standing in the doorway. "No," she said. "Please move," I begged. "We ain't lettin' you go back to that crazy old man," Russel told me. "So what am I supposed to do?" I asked, frustrated. "We've got extra bedrooms," 2-D replied. Despite my frustration, I felt grateful. I didn't want to go back to that awful house again. "Thank you," I whispered, wiping away the tears that I couldn't hold back. I felt extremely uncomfortable, crying there on the floor in front of people I barely knew. 2-D must have known this, so he led me upstairs into a room that was empty, except for a bed and a lamp. "Just take your time," he said quietly, and left me alone, closing the door behind him. I rummaged around in my bag until I found the stuffed tiger my mother had given me, Mozart. I hugged him and curled up on my new bed. It creaked a little, but the mattress was soft and molded into the shape of my body. I sighed wearily, tired from the long walk I had taken. I closed my eyes and dozed off into a dreamless sleep.

I was awoken by loud laughing and talking. I looked out my window and saw that it was pitch black outside. The smell of pizza wafted into my nose, so I stumbled downstairs. Murdoc was slumped over on the couch, actually wearing pants, Noodle was sitting on the floor, and 2-D and Russel were sitting on the couch. A few pizza boxes were stacked on a coffee table. "Hey! She's alive!" 2-D joked. Murdoc squinted at me. "Who's she?" "Our new band member, fool!" Russel told him. I eyeballed the pizza boxes. "Uhmm.. you wouldn't happen to have any more, would you?" I said wistfully. "Yeah, come on!" 2-D said, his mouth full of cheese. He handed me a box and scooted over, patting the space next to him. I sat down and took the box, but paused. Never in my life had I felt so awkward. My hair was a golden mess, and I was about to eat in front of people I had just met. To top it off, the space I was crammed into was pretty small, so I was practically smushed into 2-D. I blushed and chewed on my pizza, which was the only thing I had eaten for a few days. 2-D grabbed a remote that had a few buttons missing and pressed into the space where PLAY should have been. "You've seen some of our videos, right?" He asked me. I nodded. "I've seen a few." The TV screen lit up, and it showed Murdoc laughing, holding a bass guitar. He began to play a beat, then Noodle and Russel appeared, followed by 2-D, who began to sing, "I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad, I got sunshine, in a bag, I'm useless, but not for long, the future, is comin' on…" I smiled. "I know that song. Clint Eastwood, right?" 2-D smiled back at me and smiled, tapping his foot to the beat. I quietly sang along, but stopped when 2-D turned down the music to hear me. "Sore wa yoi!" Noodle said. I wasn't sure what she said, but it sounded like a compliment. I smiled my thanks. "We should head to the studio tomorrow," 2-D suggested. "We can do a remake of Tomorrow Comes Today." I shrugged. "I don't know. I'm still pretty new to all this, so…" 2-D casually put his arm around my shoulder, and I tensed up. "Don't worry," 2-D said. "When you get used to all the noisiness, it'll feel like you've always been here." I hid a smile and tried to relax. "Okay," I said reluctantly. Murdoc growled something and fell asleep, Noodle yawned, Russel began snoring, and 2-D began to nod off. I blinked away my own sleepiness, but eventually my eyes closed, and I fell asleep again.

Bright sunlight woke me up the next morning. I shut my eyes tightly against the light, and when I cautiously opened them again, I realized that I was still on the couch. Murdoc, Noodle, and Russel had disappeared, but 2-D had his arms around me, and my head was resting on his chest. I was blushing madly, and I tried to sit up without stirring him. However, as I stood up, I lost my balance and fell into the table. "Ouch! Crap!" I complained, rubbing my injured leg frantically. 2-D jumped up. "Wha-?! Emilia! Are you okay?!" He asked, his voice tight with concern. I bit my lip. "Yeah, I'm fine," I said. 2-D helped me up, and I saw that his eyes were big with worry. "Are you sure?" I laughed. "Don't fret. I'm totally okay," I reassured him. "Hey, FaceAche!" 2-D flinched and turned to see Murdoc in the doorway. "We're goin' to the studio, ain't we?" "Oh! That's right!" 2-D said, running his hands through his hair. "Oh, I overslept!" He abruptly ran upstairs, mumbling to himself. Once he was gone. Murdoc wiggled his eyebrows at me. I cringed, uncomfortable. "So, you and 2-D…" "Shut up," I growled brushing past him. He whistled at me. "CREEP!" I yelled at him as I ran to my room.

I frowned at the girl in front of me. She had unkempt blonde hair and unusually bright green eyes. She was frowning back at me. I stuck my tongue out at the mirror and dragged a brush through my hair, wincing as a few strands were torn out. After my hair was at least acceptable, I dressed into a tube shirt, jeans and jacket. I left my room and looked around, feeling lost. "So… where's the studio?..." I muttered to myself, and began wandering around.

I then became lost for real. I hyperventilated for a minute, cried, and sat against a wall with my head buried in my arms. After a while, I heard heavy footsteps. "Emilia? Yo, what're you doin'?" I looked up to see Russel. I wiped away my tears and sighed gratefully. "I kinda got lost," I said, grinning sheepishly. "Well, come on, then," he said, motioning for me to follow him.. "You lookin' for the studio?" I nodded. Russel paused, then began to laugh. "What's so funny?" I asked, not at all amused. He pointed to sign on a door that said, 'STOODEEO.' I was completely humiliated. I had freaked out when what I was looking for was directly next to me! But, it was kinda funny, so I chuckled. 2-D was behind some glass, clearing his throat as he prepared to sing, and Murdoc was tuning his bass. I rocked back and forth on my heels, not knowing what to do. 2-D must have known this, because he looked up, smiled, and waved for me to enter the tiny room. I obeyed. "So… what do you want me to do?" I asked. 2-D handed me some earphones. "On the second chorus of Tomorrow Comes Today, you'll sing the part when you hear a little beep in your earphones," he said. "Okay," I said, sitting down on a tiny stool. Music soon began to play. "Yeah yeah yeah, I'll pay, when-beep!" "Tomorrow," I sang, "tomorrow comes today." When the song finished, Russel, Murdoc, and 2-D replayed the song, and 2-D smiled softly when my part to sing came. I caught this and blushed. After the song finished, everyone went downstairs into the kitchen. I followed close behind, not wanting to get lost again. But as I followed them, I noticed that 2-D had disappeared. I felt a hand grasp mine and pull me away. I raised my hand to claw at whatever had grabbed me, but saw 2-D flinch away and cower. "What are you doing?!" I whispered. "I'm sorry," 2-D whimpered. "I just wanted to tell you that you were good. Really good." My heart warmed a little, and I gently pulled him to his feet. "Sorry for trying to scratch you like that," I murmured. "You scared me."